A report into the use of taser weapons in the U.K. has concluded police forces deploy Taser stun guns too often. The report also finds, The Guardian reports, that black people are more likely to face prolonged use lasting over five seconds.
A taser is an electroshock weapon used by law enforcement services to incapacitate targets via shocks that temporarily impair the target’s physical function to a level that allows them to be immobilized (tasers function by delivering a series of very brief high-voltage, low-current electric pulses that result in pain, muscle contraction and inhibition of voluntary movement.)
If the taser is applied for too long (5 seconds or above) or if the target has underlying health conditions, then risk of death rises. While such cases are rare, as the new study shows, there are concerns the presence of electroshock devices leads to greater overall hostility in police-public interactions, an example of what is sometimes referred to as the ‘weapons effect’.
Other taser related issues include short-term declines in cognitive functioning comparable to dementia. This leads some commentators to raising questions about the ability of police suspects to understand their rights at the point of arrest.
Generally, taser injuries are identified and classified as mild, moderate, or severe and their relationship to the Taser was classified as direct, indirect, or uncertain. With the new study, the focus was with how often tasers were used, which demographic groups they were directed at, and how they were used by police offers.
The study into the use of tasers by police forces comes from the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).The regulatory body has warned of a loss of legitimacy for the police unless there are reforms.
The report says, as quoted by the BBC: “We found in some cases that officers failed to identify, and as a result failed to consider, how a person’s vulnerabilities might affect their ability to understand and comply with instructions.”
This comes after a review into over one hundred taser cases across the period 2015-20. Across this period there were 94,000 uses of tasers. Of the 101 serious cases, 16 led to a death. In some cases, inquests found that the use of taser contributed to or were relevant to their deaths.
Countering the report’s findings, police chiefs stated that the IOPC report is vague and lacking in detail. This charge was led by Lucy D’Orsi, the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s leader on less lethal weapons.
